Wyverns
Wyverns were creatures living in the Torlynn wilderness during the New Age; documented sightings went back as early as the 3700's. They were large, bipedal creatures, sharing characteristics of reptiles (forked tongue, armored scales) and birds (feathered, winged, and beaked). They were approximately ostrich-sized. They were considered to be one of the most common animals in the world. The creatures were considered edible, at least by humans—but then, humans ate pretty much anything. Among the various they were prepared included wyvern jerky, flame-broiled wyvern-on-a-stick, and barbecue pulled wyvern. The meat had a distinct and different flavor from, say, chicken or turkey. Wyvern pox was a known communicable disease in Torlynn. A pack of wyverns was purported to have eaten the surviving crew members of Captain Peg-Face's pirate ship after it was attacked by a dragon in 3776. The Lost Treasure of Torlynn During the reconstruction of the town of Darkholm, street vendors were selling barbecued wyvern drumsticks. They were purported to taste like chicken. In the town's taverns, wyvern feathers were used to build dartboard darts. A pair of wyverns, a male and a female, were captured from the wilderness and put on the Torlynn tournament area for entertainment purposes. On the brink of starvation, the lizard-birds fought each other to the death. Later, after "Four" Wheeler was made king of Torlynn, he attempted to ban the hunting of the plumed speckled wyvern as a sport, but later rescinded the policy and was compelled to apologize to the Torlynn people. The Quest for the World-Breaker After goblins attacked Torlynn Castle in 3889, one of them wandered into the galley and enjoyed a leg of roast wyvern. The Curse of the Fate Shifter Ackerley Tennyson went on a semi-annual hunting expedition to attempt to recover a plumed speckeld wyvern, believing it would make a fine trophy and draw potential customers to the Skeleton's Key repair shop. Wood You Believe, a shop in the town of Rainbow's End, offered wooden carvings of cartoon wyverns. Embarrassment of Riches Mirabel Miller recalled how wyverns had once been used to transport materials across the Golden Desert. Brian Devonhyre said his father once owned a collection of dried-out wyvern skulls, suggesting that not all of them made it through the desert alive. In 3892, Deorwynn Fletcher had been conducting magical experiments on animals, including wyverns. She had been practicing removing various body parts via magical means. Wyvern-on-a-stick was among the delicious treats available at the tenth annual Torlynn Fair (dragon meat was also purportedly available, though it was actually just wyvern meat dipped in a tangy sauce). After Four Wheeler was transported to the Old Age, he attempted to coax an automated food processor into producing some wyvern for him to eat, but the computerized processor had no such foods on record. The Veil of Souls During a conversation about magical creatures, Mirabel Miller cited wyverns as being among the many high-order animals with four limbs (which was commonplace) as opposed to six limbs (which you certainly didn't see nearly as often). The first meal for the crew aboard the castle-ship Endeavor included roast wyvern in a succulent eyeberry sauce. Jax said her parents spent some time teaching wyverns to do circus tricks. Trivia The pronunciation of "wyvern" changes colloquially. Inhabitants of Darkholm tend to say "WHEE-vern," while most other folks pronounce it "WHY-vern." During his time spent in the Old Age, during a holographic simulation called ''Space Attack'', Four found himself wondering if they had space wyverns. Behind the Scenes The mention of the plumed speckled wyvern in A Butterfly's Tale was an inside joke, a reference to the nation simulation game, NationStates, in which the author created a country named Torlynn (which, not coincidentally, shared many characteristics with the Torlynn from the books). Category:Creatures Category:Foods